Their fourth minute opener owed much to the wonderful assist from defenceman Rick Pinkston, who weaved his way through the Tolzer defence before teeing up Danick Gauthier for a close range finish.

Flyers had the bit between their teeth but were unable to extend their advantage, and the first intermission did them no favours as they were unable to pick up where they left off, with Tolzer starting to take control.

The away side were rewarded for some sustained pressure with an equaliser on 46.55 when Aziz Ehliz took his chance at the back post.

That prompted a response from Fife and Bari McKenzie should have restored their lead when presented with an empty net but a slight hesitation allowed a defenceman to get his stick in and make a vital block.

McKenzie, however, made amends on 34.02, making no mistake when presented with another open net after Mike Cazzolla's shot rattled the inside of the post as Fife made the most of a powerplay opportunity.

There was concern for Fife fans when Evan Bloodoff failed to re-emerge for the start of the third period, however, Dutiaume confirmed afterwards that the move was just precautionary, and that he is not expected to miss the home opener against Glasgow Clan next Saturday.

"He just had a minor niggle and there was no point in pushing it," he said.

A new rule this coming season will see teams punished for failing to report to the ice in time, and Flyers fell foul of this at the start of the third, being hit with a two-minute bench minor after keeping their opponents and officials waiting beyond the allotted 18 minutes.

The team's tardiness proved costly as Tolzer levelled on the resultant powerplay with Shane Owen unable to stop a massive slapshot from Kyle Beach from making it 2-2.

Flyers had the better chances to finish the game in normal time but found Tolzer netminder Andreas Mechel in good form, while Evan Stoflet rattled a post.

The home side were also on the front foot in overtime, and Brett Bulmer went one-on-one with Mechel only for the goalie to come out on top.

As the overtime period ticked towards a shoot-out, a slack giveaway from Joe Basaraba presented Tolzer with a two-on-one breakaway which ended with Florian Strobl hitting the game winner on 64.14.

This was a performance of peaks and troughs, and Flyers will take most encouragement from a fluent first period, and seek to address the issues that caused them to lose the game thereafter.